Hello All!

Congratulations on all your results so far..Amazing!

My name is Lucy and I have been doing some ‘lurking’ over the last month and have decided to join in for real.
Just to give you some background.. I’m 46 and 5’1″ short and weigh 12 stones on at present.(I was 14 nearly 15 at my heaviest) I lost 6 lb last week doing this properly (ish)
I have been trying ‘diets’ for as long as I can remember but after initial small successes..given up. My husband (who never puts weight on and who loses it quickly if he does) is heartily sick of me!
I am finding this way of eating ok but just having problems with balancing nutrients. I seem to eat over the recommended 50g of carbs but hardly take in fats and proteins.
I have been eating no breakfast then full fat yeo natural yoghurt and fruit (straws,blues and plum) with mixed seed for lunch (which is relish!) and for dinner yesterday I had mackerel and small amount of quinoa and veg.
Sometimes I go over the 800 calories but often I can reach that total without carbs.
I have seen the thread re meals and have tried following them … any sound advice?
I have also struggled to drink water and this has resulted in headaches so I am really trying now on that front!

Thanks, Lucy

Silly predictive text… I meant ‘delish’ and that I can’t reach total without carbs!!!
Lucy

Eggs are great for protein, I have a two egg omelette fried in butter with cheese, have a salad or some veg with it and you have hit all the bases in one meal. These days, I always add butter or oil to my veggies and where I would have grilled before, I now fry in butter. However, I do not count calories as this amount of fat would put me way over the 800. I just stick to 50g of carbs a day and I am still losing weight that way. All the best to you, you’ve made a great start.

Hi Lucy, welcome to the BSD way of life, glad you came out from lurking, now you’ll get lots of helpful suggestions. 🙂
Try having your full fat yoghurt and berries for breakfast, add some flaxseed meal to help with protein and vitamins.
You could change it now and again with bacon and eggs or scrambled eggs with cheese. This will keep your carbs down and add protein and fat.
Lunch could be tuna or chicken salad, soup and cream cheese/ Greek yoghurt/ creme fraiche stirred through. Or really thick veg soup/stew with grated cheese on top. Check through the recipes on the site too. Bills flatbread recipe is very nice. If you add Garlic and Rosemary to it you can top it like a pizza, or coriander and cumin and have it with curry instead of rice.
Dinner is meat/ fish and any above ground veg have very low carbs. Or you could grill/ roast courgette, eggplant, peppers, mushrooms with olive oil and some fried halloumi cheese.
It is important to keep up your fluids to prevent headaches and dehydration. Any non sugary drinks count towards your fluid intake. If you use milk you need to add it to your calorie count. Herbal or fruit teas and mineral water or hot water and a slice of lemon help to ring the changes.
Just a few ideas, hope it helps.
Keep posting and let us know how you get on.

Janet and I sing from the same sheet !
I don’t count calories either. I find that watching the carbs and sensible portion control takes care of everything I need.
I’m not saying don’t count calories, but personally, I’ve never needed to.

Hi Everyone again!

Thanks so much for your helpful replies!

The ideas for meals were great thanks! It all looks like a lot of food! (thank goodness!)

I have always had problems with portion control. But luckily, I usually make nearly all of my meals from scratch so although I put weight on, my cholesterol and blood pressure have been ok. I have never been tested for diabetes but I am worried about developing it due to my weight. I have stopped drinking even low/no calorie fizzy drinks and am limiting myself to only a couple of cubes of dark chocolate a day. I have now stopped drinking alcohol – I was having 2 glasses of red wine a week with a can of cider.

Lets hope this weight loss continues…

Lucy

Hi Lucy, We’ve only been going a week so newbies to this although experienced dieters otherwise! We’ve had lovely meals and are just having what we fancy but following the guidelines. We have mostly come in on or around 800 kcal. Our carbs are all over the place, very low some days and well over 50g on others. But we are logging the meals and will soon have enough information to plan the day’s intake by putting a high carb breakfast with a low lunch and a medium dinner and so on. We’ve learned an oily fish day can’t also be a cheese day for us. Our only slips have been one no added sugar muesli and nut bar each, finishing the low fat yog and sticking to a little skim milk as we really don’t like full fat. Our meals have been fab. We pinched a lot of ideas from the what have you eaten today thread. Such a helpful lot you are. I am so full, I often don’t feel like having another meal! I used to prowl the dining room and kitchen looking for things to munch up to an hour before meals were due. Isn’t it great? I have problems with drinks too. As someone who used to drink pots of tea and coffee, I’ve found switching to black has reduced the amount I want to drink of them. I now keep a pint glass of water handy. Having discovered I like it warm or hot. Who knew? I am managing round about 3 pints a day, just by remembering to keep my glass full. A cup of coffee/tea means a glass of water too. I really didn’t think it would be this easy. But it is just never feeling hungry, it transforms our lives. Onwards and downwards.

I struggled to drink water to start with, but am getting better. I have a rule of always drinking a glassful as soon as I step into the kitchen for any reason. I find it best to just drink it straight down. It’s almost become habit now and as I have to go through the kitchen to reach the garden and it’s where the washing machine is, I get through quite a few glasses that way.

I do feel better now I’m drinking more water.

Hi venusflytrap,
You don’t have to drink your tea and coffee black. You just put 150 mls or so of milk in a separate container in the fridge. Add this to your carb/ calorie count and use it for your drinks. Bill has a cappuccino and he’s had fantastic results. 🙂

Thanks Patsy, but Sweetheart is doing all the cooking this week so not heading kitchen wards often enough. I remember my Mum doing that and she had fantastic skin. So there are extra advantages. Thanks Cherrianne, (and Bill), but I am allowing myself 60mls of skimmed per day. So either two brown coffees or 1 beige one and I am adding a sweetner and it’s my sweet treat, if I’m good. I need to practise not drinking lots of milk because if I have what I want, it comes to a pint and a half a day! So I’m going practically cold turkey on this one. Yes I know I need the calcium but I get loads!

Hi Venusflytrap
Perhaps if you swap to full fat milk you will find that you use less? Full fat has less carbs than skimmed milk. I always used to find that I had to have a larger splash of skimmed (well its virtually just sugared water anyway) to get the same effect in my tea or coffee as full fat.

Thanks, Janet1973, great minds think alike! I’ve put that suggestion up to the other Flytraps, but the other two I share milk with can only use skimmed as the fat in cream, semi skimmed and full fat tastes off to them. It’s genetic apparently! So I’m veto-ed. I do have the odd individual catering carton of evaporated as I regard it as a rare treat. (Shades of my misspent youth.) So I might just switch to that when the current pack of skimmed is finished. Am I the only baby boomer who can’t “waste” food no matter what the provocation or benefits of doing so? I’m beginning to feel I have hijacked LucyAB’s original thread. Although it has been worth it for me! Thanks for all the ideas, guys.

I love the idea if a family of flytraps! I understand its hard when you have try to please all the people all the time and I agree with you about the waste issue. I have had to grin and bear it with a few new things I’ve bought but they haven’t lived up to expectations!

Another alternative might be almond, coconut or soya milk. All low carb and low cal so long as you stick to the unsweetened ones. I am currently using almond milk and it works quite well in tea.

Janet, you are so like me, you are sure every problem has a solution, if we can just think inventively enough. I have tried them all because Son & Heir drinks them as well. I really like the milk alternatives on cereal, but not in tea/coffee. Rather have them black than have the wrong milk! And there are loads of baristas in Edinburgh who bear the scars I gave them last summer, for confusing semi with skimmed. “We call 2% skimmed!” Then you will have to make me another coffee!
Thanks for all your efforts, much appreciated,
Venus

Could you not just buy a single carton of full fat milk for your own use? (Although I’m with the other flytraps – full fat milk tastes off to me too 😉 )

I could, but I would be unlikely to finish it within its shelf life, once opened. I only want 30ml or 60ml a day. So it is easier to have cream or evaporated milk, both of which I prefer, in my one or two white coffees per day. But thanks for the suggestion.